Move into new Isle of Wight middle school slated for summer

WINDSOR — Teachers at the aging Windsor Middle School will finally be able to move out in June, after months of weather-related delays stymied construction on the school's replacement.

The new $19.4 million Georgie D. Tyler Middle School faced delays throughout spring and early summer, when wet weather forced project manager Mike Cardwell to request 55 days of "abnormal inclement weather" through June – those days when more than 1/10th of an inch of rain prevents construction crews from working.

The Isle of Wight School Board approved an order in October to extend the target completion date by 80 days, according to board records. The building was originally supposed to be ready for move-in during the 2013-14 school year's winter break. Now, the school is slated to reach substantial completion by March 26, with construction totally wrapped up before the end of April.

Cardwell said weather is still affecting construction, but the most important parts of the project are now "dried in" – housed under the now-watertight roof, so that work on critical components can continue during inclement weather.

"(Rain) does hinder operation, makes things slower," Cardwell said, as on the day before Thanksgiving, when the site received 2.2 inches of rain. "(But) work is progressing. We're dried in on 95 percent of the interior space."

Teachers will begin moving personal effects from the old school into the new building after the current school year wraps on June 13. Cardwell and his team will work for a couple of weeks to help salvage anything usable from the school – furniture, Xerox machines, even pull-down shades – before demolishing the old building. Demolition will likely occur around July 1, Cardwell said.

"That'll be an exciting time," Cardwell said. "It'll be a brand new building when they start in 2014."

It replaces a decrepit 64-year-old school that Principal Susan Goetz told the Daily Press in July often serves as a distraction for teachers.

Goetz said wood floors and molding are rotting in the old school, originally built for African-American students in an era when education was segregated by race. Windows leak and occasionally fall out of the walls, but major renovations to the old building couldn't be undertaken because hazardous materials like asbestos could pose a health threat if disturbed.

"We have daily challenges with keeping the (current) building at a desirable temperature," Goetz said in December. "Having basic amenities such as climate control will be terrific."

There had been discussion of moving the teachers and students over in April or May, when the school itself is complete, but Goetz and the School Board agreed that they didn't want the distraction and chaos of moving into a new building right before the crucial SOL testing time.

Goetz said some have been disappointed that they won't be moving this school year, especially 8th grade students who won't end up at the new school next year, but that the community is excited for the move and it will be worth a little extra wait.